It was on February 28, 2012, when the Raig Verd publishing house published its first two titles: Todo está tranquilo arriba by Gerbrand Bakker and La pesquisa by Juan José Saer. Ten years later, the two novels will be reissued to celebrate the anniversary. In Saer's case, who has published one book each year, the reissue will be of all titles.
With Bakker, Raig Verd won the Premi Llibreter, awarded by the Gremi de Llibreters de Barcelona, and placed itself on the literary map. This is one of the most outstanding moments that editor Laura Huerga remembers from these ten years. Three years later, another award would also mark a relevant chapter. The writer and journalist Svetlana Alexievich won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2015. "I didn't expect it," recalls Huerga, who had decided to bet on this author, even though everyone told her she was wrong.
Despite the Nobel, Alexievich has not been one of the best-selling authors at Raig Verd in these first ten years. The two authors who kicked off the venture have been, accompanied by Ursula K. Le Guin, Ali Smith, Jean Echenoz, and Ngugi wa Thiong'o. Tardor, by Ali Smith; Els desposseïts, by Ursula K. Le Guin and Un mag de Terramar, also by Le Guin, have been the most read titles.
The publishing house publishes in Catalan and Spanish, although it sells much more in Catalan, and has accumulated a total of 177 titles by 54 authors in this decade. More than a hundred have been novels, but the essay has also been gaining its space. Currently, it already stands at 25 titles published per year.
Once the ten years have passed, its editor, Laura Huerga, is committed to "exploring new spaces" and will venture into poetry. She will debut with Colònia DMZ by Don Me Choi, which explains the post-war period in Korea from the point of view of the tortured, the executed, and the imprisoned, that is, "different witnesses to the official versions of history." "It could be the first of many," says the editor.
The new horizons of the publishing house will not stop at poetry. Huerga also wants to try comics in Catalan. She will do so through a graphic novel that will narrate the stories of twelve unaccompanied minors, in collaboration with professional artists.
The second decade will also bring a new youth collection in Catalan, by Mariló Álvarez. Fleeing Anglo-Saxon culture, classics will be recovered and contemporary titles will be published. It will start with novels, but essays are also planned to be incorporated. Initially, between four and five titles will be published per year.
Beyond the new formats, Huerga sets itself the future challenge of achieving parity in the catalog, achieved in recent years, but not reflected in the global figures. Specifically, of all the books published, 116 have been written by men and 57 by women.